On a spring day in 1986, an explosion and subsequent fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, near the Belarusian border — then part of the Soviet Union — projected a plume of radioactive material into the sky. Nearly 30 years later, an exclusion zone with a radius of roughly 30-kilometers (18.6-miles) is still enforced. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to construct updated containment facilities to stem further contamination. The catastrophic accident was the result of a flawed reactor design and lapsed safety protocols, and the incident severely damaged the reputation of Soviet (now Russian) nuclear power production. In fact, the Russian nuclear sector — now led by state-owned company Rosatom — may never fully escape the ghost of Chernobyl, though the global memory of the incident is fading into history. In 2010, Rosatom announced ambitious plans for growth, thereby expanding Russia's role in the international nuclear community.